100drabbles
by MissLe
Summary: .SasuHina. There may be many pieces to the puzzle, but in the end it makes the same picture.
1. Introduction

**1. ****Introduction**

When she was first introduced to the boy with the duck hair, dark eyes and petulant voice, she was terrified of him.

Their parents had thought it was a good idea to get the two children (one heir to a large fortune and company, the other second in line for said title) acquainted with each other (in order to weasel information out of the children about the other's family). He had acted as a perfect gentleman to her, giving a shallow bow to her, telling her that for a girl she wasn't that ugly (which called upon several admonishing glares on behalf of the parents), and that he was very pleased to meet her.

It wasn't long before the wives began crooning over the sweet children and planning wedding dates, something that the children purposely ignored and didn't quite understand yet. They crawled around on the floor pretending to be cats and dogs until the adults decided both would be fine by themselves (Wouldn't he be such a handsome groom? She's make a lovely wife) and left to another room to begin their meeting.

As soon as the door closed, the horror began.

He immediately began to shoot her down with mean words such as, "I hate you. I'm only here and being nice to you because mother and father don't want to embarrass you. You're a stupid booger face." and taunt her by pulling on her hair. The torment continued until footsteps and voices could be heard on the opposite side of the door where the parents were bidding their goodbyes. Instantly, he let go of the hair he had been pulling and sat beside her civilly.

"Come on, Sasuke, say good bye to Hinata. You can see her again soon." His mother called and smiled at the terrified girl sweetly.

"Bye, 'nata." He stood up and left with his mother with one glance back that promised much more suffering if she even told a peep of what had transpired.

Her dreams that night were not of the Boogyman or other monsters, but a small four year old who would kick her, taunt her, then run away.

Her second introduction to him had been when he transferred to her high school. She had recognized him right away and nearly died when the teacher called upon her to show him around the school. He told her his name and in return told the boy her name.

For six painstakingly long seconds Hinata waited as he scrutinized her to recognize her, but was tear jerkingly happy when he looked away from her to an object of more interest with a grunt. "Hn."

She toured him along the hallways, stuttering as she pointed to the different classrooms or rooms of certain interests until he leaned against a wall and gave her a bored stare. "You can just go now. Tell him I went home sick, or that someone else took over, or even the truth. I don't really care." With that he turned around and began walking away.

"B-but I have to!" She yelped as she stumbled after him.

He turned around and glared at her. "I just said you don't have to. I'm going home, so go away." He continued walking away as Hinata stared at him with a gaping mouth.

His parting words were, "You have an enormously large rack, you know? You should get a new bra."

The next few years of high school were spent in the torture of his teasing and bullying.

The next time they were introduced was when she was given a position at a well known law firm on her first day. The kind pink haired assistant had guided her into an office where she greeted the man who was staring down at his papers in deep concentration, a deep line running between his eyebrows as he tapped the paper with a finger impatiently.

"Mr. Uchiha," The assistant called sweetly and pushed Hinata in gently. "It's the newbie. I thought you'd want to make the new meat's acquaintance."

He finally looked up at her frightened and wide doe eyes and smirked. "I see you took my advice and _finally _got yourself a good bra."

It was not long before the two were given yet another introduction. She was attending a close friend's wedding, only to be surprised to see him standing there as the best man. The groom had dragged her over to the uncomfortably bored looking man who looked at her with mild surprise before giving way to a small smirk she was so accustomed to.

"Sasuke, this is Hinata, the girl I was talking about!" The groom laughed boisterously and gave the irritated looking man a not-so-light pat on the back. "She's the one who introduced me to my…" He looked around the room briefly before grinning wildly at the blushing bride who returned the grin. "…_wife_." With that, he took off with another bright grin and shouted loud enough for the entire room to hear, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

The two stood in awkward silence for a moment before he asked, "So, how's the new job?"

"I-it's fine." She returned uncomfortably and wrung her fingers together.

"Why'd you quit?" He was currently amusing himself by counting ceiling tiles under muttered breath.

"W-well, they pay better and have better benefits…"

"…fifteen…sixteen…If you asked, I would've given you a raise. You were a pretty good worker, you never really slacked or anything…seventeen…"

She merely squirmed uncomfortably.

"…twenty…twenty-one…Why'd you really quit?…twenty-four…wait. Dammit."

She turned a dark red suddenly and mumbled, "That _is _the r-reason."

"No it isn't. You just turned your tomato red. We always end up like this, don't we?" He asked suddenly, giving way to a swift change of subject that Hinata was grateful for.

"Like what?"

"Like this. Hastily introduced before left alone. Like when we were kids and I terrorized you, then when we were in high school and you were made to tour me around the campus and I commented on your boobs, then when I made a not-so-appropriate comment again on your breasts that really, you should've sued me for under the grounds of sexual harassment on your first day and Sakura was so embarrassed that she left quickly…then now."

"You remembered me from when we were little?" She asked with wide eyes. She was so sure that he hadn't recognized her when he saw her for the first time in high school…

"Of course I did. I just didn't think you did. I was a bit of a monster when I was younger, wasn't I?"

She chuckled. "Y-you don't leave a very good first impression, do you?"

He returned the chuckle with a half-grin. "I suppose not." He shifted his eyes towards her. "But you never told me the real reason you quit. I'm not ever going to let this go until you do, you know. I may even take it personally."

She turned even redder than before and mumbled almost incoherently, "I didn't think w-writing on y-your company paper with this p-pen would be the best idea…" She wasn't sure what possessed her to actually say that. She should've lied. Lying would have been the best choice by far.

She almost swore that she saw his face tinge slightly. "And what makes you think that this pen wants to write on your paper?"

She gave a horrified gasp and covered her open mouth. "Wh-what? _N-no_! I wasn't assuming a-anything! I was j-just--"

He gave small, barely there smile and chuckled. "I was kidding. I was almost glad that you left. I didn't want to infringe on company policy either, anyways."

Her eyes widened as she clutched his sleeve. "R-really? Y-you're not teasing me, a-are you?"

"I am not. I got over that stage a long time ago."

She smiled and pressed her face against his shoulder where she smiled and whispered. "Th-that's nice."

His face was definitely more than tinged now as he awkwardly stumbled across the next words, "I didn't mean what I said about your boobs before. They were the best boobs I had ever seen. Er, are the best. Really great. Should I stop talking? Are you laughing at me?"

Hinata bit back the giggles as she said, "Thank you. I'm g-glad that you like them so much."

He was unquestionably red now.

---

**Um. We'll see how long I'll last for this.**

**EDIT: Okay, not an edit really, but I've had a bunch of people ask me about the company pen and paper thing. I'm pretty sure there's a saying that goes somewhat like this: "Don't write on company paper with a company pen." Which (as far as I know and was told) means you shouldn't be engaging in relations in the workplace with your co-workers. That makes things a little easier now, right? -uneasy glance around-**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


	2. Love

**2. Love**

_Gasp._

"Give me it!"

Laughter. "You really want it?"

"_Sasuke_! Don't t-tease me!"

"I'll only give it to you if you tell me how much you love it."

"I-I'm not going to tell you how much I love it! Your ego's just going t-to inflate to sizes I don't want to even think about."

"You're not getting any of it otherwise, Hinata." There was a smirk in his voice that made her want to scream and kiss in senseless at the same time.

"F-fine." She huffed. "I love it more than the air I breathe. I love it m-more than my favourite purple sw-sweater, and I love it more than _you _at the m-moment, that's for sure."

"Ouch."

"Just let me have it already!" She made a desperate grab for it, nearly panting as she stretched her hand out for it, but was blocked as he turned his back to her.

"No. I want you to…to lick it first before I let you have it."

There was a silence through the room as her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew to saucers. "L-lick it for you? _What_? No! I am not l-licking that for you! Do y-you know how perverted you sound right now?"

"Why, that's the point, Hinata." He turned back around and purred quietly into her ear, making her stomach turn pleasantly squirmish. "Please." He breathed ran a feather like touch down her arm.

"Oh, I g-guess…" Hinata frowned as he held it out like a trophy for her to lower her head slightly and give a tentative lick.

"Good girl." He murmured to her.

"Will you finally l-let me have it?"

"I suppose." He tossed her the still warm chocolate chip cookie that she quickly caught and devoured with a moan. He chuckled and crossed his arms. "It's nice to know that my cookies have such an…effect on you."

She shot him a quick frown and blush before licking the crumbs from her fingers. "Don't be so f-full of yourself. I know that you're willing to do _anything _for my blueberry m-muffins."

He merely rolled his eyes before strolling his way out of the kitchen and letting a momentary smirk drift to his face at the memory of her licking the cookie.

Damn. He really ought to bake them more often.

----

**Pfft. Can you see Sasuke baking chocolate chip cookies? -snigger-**

**Ciao,**

**MissLe**


	3. Light

They were _everywhere_; there wasn't a spot where she _couldn't_ see them. It was like she was drowning in these limbs that were constantly finding a way through her defences.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Swipe. Kick. Block. Stab. Five dead.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

A sharp gasp that she wasn't sure was hers as a kick finally connected against her chest.

_Beep. Beep._

_Beep_.

A sloppy block that barely stopped the shuriken from flying into her windpipe. A disoriented jab at an opponent's temple. A cry that she was sure this time was hers as a kunai plunged into ribcage.

_Beeeeeeeep._

Everything was black. Everywhere she turned her gaze was black. Were her eyes open? Looking down, she examined her hands that glowed brightly against the pitch dark of everything and deduced that indeed, her eyes were open. A flicker of something caught the corner of her eye, causing her to whip her head in that direction and stare at the steadily growing tunnel beside her that seemed endless until she noticed the small pinprick of light at the end.

No.

No, no, no, _no_! She could _not_ go into there! She wasn't ready yet!

Yet, even as these thoughts passed frantically through her mind, the tunnel began to grow shorter, almost if coming to meet her if she wouldn't meet it. Struggling and stepping back futilely, she desperately begged for the light to quit its advancement.

She had too much to live for.

Like her _goals_.

_She punched and twirled, defending herself against an imaginary opponent in attempt to sweat away her frustrations as well as prove as a distraction against them. Flinging off her coat, she stamped her foot against the ground and stood still with her chest heaving and eyes watering._

_Third time._

_That was her third time failing the jounin exam._

Third_ time._

"_Your punches are too wild and sloppy."_

_She turned around quickly and was surprised to find herself face to face with Konoha's once missing nin. Even after he had come back and Naruto had issued a grand party for him (that few actually agreed to go to and even fewer approved of it), Hinata had still seen very little of him. She still heard whispered rumours about him still; that hadn't changed, but now it wasn't the gossip heard boisterously at the merchant stalls or as small talk, but something told in secret in the ladies washrooms for fear he would hear._

_She merely grunted and continued her training, ignoring her usual politeness that had forever been ingrained in her memory. Right now, she couldn't really give a damn if Sasuke thought she was being rude to him, her father (who hated the boy more than words alone could say) would at least finally approve of something she did. Nonetheless, she straightened her punches and found her form (grudgingly so) improving._

"_Concentrate on your chakra level; it's leaking out in immense amounts." His monotone voice made her stop once again, this time making her eyes narrow and her fists clench._

"_Wh-what are you doing here?" She whispered and tried rubbing away the dirt on her cheek, with not much avail._

_He crossed his arms defensively and his frown deepened. "This is a training ground. A _public_ training ground. I'm here to train."_

_She merely turned a bright red and resumed her training._

_Over the next few months, Hinata would find the other ninja training just as often she did. Though usually the two trained in silence next to each other, the quiet between them usually went about unnoticed and fell into an air of almost comfort with the occasional murmur from Sasuke to correct her stance, or whatever other critique he could find._

"_Why do y- you train so often?" She asked quietly one day as she picked up her heavy jack and prepared to leave._

"_Why do you?" He asked back and kicked high into the air before bringing his fist down to the ground in a punch that sent a reverberation through the ground._

_She scrunched her eyebrows together. "B-because I need to be better. I need t-to pass my...my e-exam."_

"_Hm."_

_She took this as a sign to continue as he kept flickering his dark eyes back to her as if waiting for something. "My j-jounin exam. Since father...f-father gave my birthright to H-Hanabi, I want to b-be a teacher." She could feel the tears of frustration well up again in her bright eyes and quickly tried gulping them back."I...I really want t-to. I want to d-do something for myself for once."_

_He replied with another grunt and stood up, wiping the seat off his forehead. "Kids are annoying."_

_She merely shrugged on her coat and smiled brightly with the knowledge that he actually listened to her._

The light was approaching too fast.

She couldn't leave yet! What...what about her friends?

"_Look! Look!" Sakura shook both Ino and Hinata's arms vigorously. "It's _Sasuke_! Over there!"_

"_He's shirtless!" Ino squealed and held back onto Sakura._

_HInata peered over at the garden across from the cafe they were eating at and was mildly surprised to find Sasuke slaving away in a garden with dirt smeared up his arms and occasionally on his face and the sun beating down on her back. For the first time after the many years of seeing his face, she could feel the tug of attraction curling in her stomach. It wasn't so much that he was shirtless and sweaty, but more the appeal of seeing him working so hard to do such honest work like gardening._

"_I can't believe you still find that asshole attractive after all he's done." Kiba growled and glared at Sasuke's turned back._

"_Yoo-hoo!" Ino stood up and called, her arm waving in the air. "Sasuke! Come over and have a drink with us!"_

_He turned his head to look at them, his gaze scanning the whole group that surrounded the patio table and let his eyes linger on Hinata who blinked at him a second longer than the rest before turning back to his work of pulling out the weeds. A sudden rush of guilt plummeted in Hinata's stomach as she realized she hadn't even _asked_ him..._

"_Hey, it's _Hinata's_ birthday we're celebrating, not Sasuke's!" Naruto frowned at the two girls still gushing over Sasuke. "Right, Shino?"_

_Shino only nodded and stared at Sasuke, who suddenly seemed to be swatting at the air around him much more, with narrowed eyes behind his glasses._

"_Shino." Hinata murmured and lightly put her hand against his thigh, earning a nearly unheard sigh as Sasuke finally stopped batting the air around his head._

"_Sorry, Hinata." The two girls said guiltily before brightening suddenly. "Hey, we could invite Sasuke over here to have lunch too!"_

"_Yeah, what about it?" Ino asked eagerly and waited in anxious silence for Hinata's answer._

_Hinata turned to look at the formidable ninja who was being degraded to pulling weeds at a house whose owners weren't even kind enough to offer him any water in the surprising heat of winter. His back was still turned and he showed no sign of hearing other than the noticeably slower rate that he was tugging at weeds._

_Hinata ignored the frowns from her male friends and the anxious ones from her female friends as she said in her clearest voice, "Y-yes. Of course." She however visibly deflated as she watched Sasuke pull on his shirt and walk away as if nothing happened, leaving behind an angry group of friends and a weed-free garden._

"_See? Asshole." Kiba muttered angrily and looked ready to pounce at Sasuke's retreating back._

"_C'mon. Let's not dwell on this, guys." Naruto pleaded. "We have better things to do, like celebrate Hinata's birthday!"_

_Beams lit up everyone's faces as they suddenly took the chance to leap upon Hinata, enveloping her in a tight group hug. Hinata's eyes widened before crinkling with joy and returning the hug with teary eyes._

"_Happy birthday, Hinata!" They all chorused together and sang in warbled voices their birthday wishes to her._

_After being stuffed full from lunch and beginning her walk home, Hinata felt the tears of gratitude spring up as she bumped shoulders in the crowd with the boy with unmistakable dark hair who murmured quietly, "Happy birthday."_

The tunnel was now only twenty feet long and the large entry of light was big enough to fit her entire manor into it.

But her...her family, they _needed_ her!

_Hinata looked up from the book she was reading with a startled expression as she watched both her cousin and sister enter the room with their usual sombre expressions donning their faces. Knowing that this was a serious matter for both of them to visit her during their training time, Hinata closed the book and sat upright on her bed. "He-hello there, Hanabi and Nii-san."_

_Neji gave a stiff nod whereas Hanabi only crossed her arms across her small chest and frowned. Swallowing nervously, Hinata asked with an uneasy chuckle, "Can I help you gu-guys?"_

_Hanabi, never one to beat around the proverbial bush, put her hands on her hips and frowned further at Hinata. "That traitor, you know, Sasuke, or whatever? Yeah. I don't like him." She jerked her thumb over to Neji and scowled. "And neither does he or father."_

_Neji sighed and rubbed his temple. "What Hanabi is _trying_ to say is that...that we don't approve of you mingling with the traitor. He'll be a terrible influence on you, and...well...we only want what's best for you."_

"_O-oh." Hinata murmured and looked down at her hands with a pained expression. She _enjoyed_ training with Sasuke. Not only was the prodigy amazing at everything he did, but he forced her to improve, never holding back when he saw something wrong with what she was doing._

_Hanabi gave an exasperated sigh and continued, "But he seems to make you happy for whatever reason." She gave a brief and highly unladylike snort. "Listen, Hinata, we're not here to force you not to see him, we're warning you. I don't want my big sister to start crying or whatever because that's just annoying and then Neji will have to deal with you instead of training me."_

"_Hanabi that's not—" Neji began but was cut off before he could get too far._

"_Shut up, Neji, you know it's true. Anyways." She turned back to her sister who was staring with wide eyes up at her. "As much as we hate the Uchiha, we love you a lot more, so we're willing to sacrifice our pride for that." With that, Hanabi re-crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling with what may have been embarrassment._

_Both Hyuuga prodigies were forced into uncomfortable fidgeting, muttering, and blushing as Hinata launched herself at them in a tight hug that said all that was needed to._

She could almost touch the blinding light if she raised her arm in front of her. It would be so easy to give up too. So painless.

No.

She had to keep fighting. If not for her dreams, her friends, or her family...

Then for _him_.

_The rain was falling heavily all around her as she continued her training, concentrating intensely on not letting a single drop fall on her while she moved through the empty clearing gracefully._

"_I told you to tighten those punches."_

_She stumbled forwards for a moment and lost her concentration, letting the rain pelt down against her skin and plaster her hair against her neck uncomfortably. Turning around, she gave a small smile as she saw Sasuke standing under the relative shelter of a tree, holding a black umbrella above his head._

"_Y-you never came here t-today." She walked over and pushed pieces of hair away from her eyes. _

"_No, Kakashi forced me to take a day off and said I had to spend it with him." He tilted the umbrella slightly so that she was now sheltered beneath it too. "That man talks too much. He talks so much I end up saying more than I want to say too."_

_Hinata merely chuckled at this and began wringing out her hair. After clearing his throat in what may have been an uncomfortable way, he continued, "He told me I should come here and...and say something to you."_

"_Say what?" She tilted her head and asked, her eyes visually tracing the hard lines of his jaw and the slant of his nose._

_Without hesitation, he dipped his head to place a kiss against her lips. Gasping, Hinata leaned against him after feeling her legs almost give out beneath her and clutched his shirt beneath her shaky fingers. When he lifted for air, he pushed aside her bangs that were hanging in her eyes and stared straight into her eyes with intensity she had only seen from him in battle. _

"_That I love you." He said it as if it were the simplest fact in the world._

The first thing she was aware of was the pain. It was everywhere. Even her _hair_ hurt. Cracking open her eyelids, she hissed through split and peeling lips at the harsh light that was threatening to blind her.

The second thing she was aware of was the grip encaged around her that caused the pain to increase tenfold. She gave a sharp whimper and suddenly, both the warmth and hold around her disappeared.

"You're alive."

Forcing her eyes to squint open, she looked up at His face and croaked, "Am I?"

The closest thing to a smile she had ever seen on his face sprouted at the corner of his lips as he bent closer to her bed and tucked his head into the crook of her neck. "Barely...you...you _scared_ me. I don't think I've felt that much fear since _Itachi_."

"I'm s-sorry." She whispered and tried lifting her hand to place it against his head, but was restrained by his hand that clutched gently against her wrist.

"Don't move." He placed both of his hands on either side of her and leaned over. Lifting one of those hands, he gently ran his fingers against her cheeks. "I...I swore..." He clutched that hand into a tight fist and whispered in a choked voice Hinata strained to hear, "I swore that I would go over and rip the Other Side apart to bring you back."

"I-I guess they didn't want that, hm?" She gave a small chuckle and wanted to do nothing more than kiss the distressed face above her and assure that she would never leave him.

He buried his face back into the crook of her neck and gasped in a strangled voice, "Just...just don't do that ever again."

"Sasuke," She murmured into his hair and closed her eyes, feeling sleep wanting to claim her. "I'll _always_ live and be there for you." She yawned. "J-just for you."


	4. Dark

No, this just wasn't _right_.

Frowning and creasing her eyebrows with frustration, Hinata swirled the paint around on her palette thoughtfully. Maybe more blue? No, that would make them too bright. Brown? No, too _dull_. Purple? Absolutely not.

Looking up briefly, she examined his lowered face again. She had no problem sketching out every line on his face to near perfection (when one stared as often at a face as she did to his, it wasn't hard to do), and even painting in each strand of ruffled black hair hadn't been too difficult. She had especially enjoyed painting the contours of his nose and lips, but when it all came down to it...

Hinata had no idea how to paint Sasuke's eyes.

Looking at them for a split second, one might automatically peg them as black, but after staring at them for long moments like Hinata did, it became obvious that black was not the colour suited for Sasuke's eyes. For one, black was just too ordinary which was just not a word one would ever describe Sasuke as, and two,

Black just wasn't dark enough.

Darker.

_Darker_.

She continued swirling more and more paint together until almost her entire palette was covered with wasted paint. Sighing, she resisted the urge to scream in frustration and took one last glance at Sasuke before finally bringing her paintbrush to the canvas.

It didn't take long before Kurenai called out to her classroom to clean up their paints and leave their pictures to dry. Looking up from her painting, Hinata gave a small, satisfied smile and smudged a splotch of paint on her face as she rubbed her cheek with contentment.

"My eyes aren't red."

She turned around quickly to look at Sasuke who appeared behind her. She bit her lip with a look of nervousness on her face, but soon replaced it with a small smile as she watched the corner of his mouth tick up with approval. "And my eyes aren't violet." She grinned slightly and motioned to his painting of her that was lying upon the table across from them.

He frowned slightly and licked his thumb to lightly swipe away at the paint on her face. "I couldn't find a colour light enough." He grumbled and smirked infinitesimally as Hinata blushed at the feel of his wet digit against her cheek.

"I see w-we share similar problems then..." She murmured and placed her hand over her bright red cheek.

* * *

**Shortest I've EVER done.**

**I do so enjoy this length. :)**

**Ciao,  
MissLe**


	5. Seeking Solace

"Hey, Hinata!" A loud voice boomed across the courtyard of the school as the owner of said voice bounded through crowds of students to catch up to the petite brunette who turned around and gave a small smile to the exuberant boy.

"Hello, Naruto." She greeted and clutched her binders closer to her body, "Can I help you?"

"Well, yeah, actually you can." He bent over to whisper conspiratorially into her ear. "You see, I happened to be, uh, sick on Friday and didn't catch the notes for history…and I was wondering if you happened to have some I could…I dunno…_borrow_ for the mean time?"

She raised an eyebrow at him before giggling, "Naruto, everyone knows that you skipped the last period of Friday to go get wasted at the beach with likes of Ino, Kiba, Sakura and a bunch of others."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and grinned at her toothily. "So you caught me. Still though, do you have them?"

She laughed quietly before pulling out a sheet of paper from one of her binders. "I figured you'd ask." She handed it to him and smiled. "You always do."

Grinning, he threw his arms around her in a tight bear hug and said, "You're the _best_, Hinata. Seriously. I love you, girl."

Hinata burrowed her face into his shoulder to hide the deep blush staining her cheeks. He was way too close. She knew he was an affectionate guy, but sometimes it got to be too much; she felt ashamed that she couldn't even find the will to pull away.

"Thanks so much, Hinata." He unfurled his arms from around her and held the piece of paper up into the sky. "_Yes_! I _will_ pass this class!"

She chuckled before gripping his shirt sleeve lightly and asking, "Naruto, do you know where Sasuke is?"

He looked around at his surroundings before frowning slightly and scratching his cheek. "Well, he was just over there a second ago…where the hell did he disappear to?" Turning back to Hinata he gave a shrug before saying, "Sorry. I don't."

"It's okay…I-I'll go find him myself." She waved goodbye briefly before going off to find her boyfriend.

--

"Hey, you seen Hinata?" The dark haired boy kicked his foot out and smirked when he felt it connect with the blonde's head from below.

"Hey! What was that for?" Naruto shouted up at Sasuke who was sitting on the concrete ledge of the school gate and rubbed his injured head. "That hurt!"

"I haven't seen her all day." He continued as if never hearing and tapped his pen against the rings of his binder impatiently. "She's in a couple of your classes isn't she? I was supposed to give her some of my notes for Spanish…" He frowned as he scanned the heavily crowded courtyard for his girlfriend, but found himself unable to because of the tree that happened to be blocking his entire view of the courtyard.

"Man, you're whipped, aren't you?" Naruto chuckled and very narrowly avoided the kick sent his way again. "Okay, okay! Yeah, I've seen her! I was just going to find her now to get some notes from her because _you_ won't ever let me copy them!"

"That's because you don't deserve it. If you tried in class instead of skipping it so you can go get crunk with Sakura, then maybe I'd consider it. Hinata's just too nice for her own good." He craned his neck in order to attempt to peer over into the crowd with no avail.

"Yeah, don't know how _you_ managed to snag her." Naruto muttered under his breath and yelped as Sasuke's other foot hit his head.

"Where is she?"

"Over there." Naruto pouted and pointed to a point exactly behind the tree where Sasuke's view was being blocked. "Anyways, I've gotta go see her now." With that, he bounded off towards the girl while an arm waved exuberantly towards her.

Putting down his binder and notes on the high ledge beside him, Sasuke stood up and leapt onto the tree gracefully and gave a crooked smile as he peered over at the shortest girl in the crowd who turned around to Naruto's overly loud call with a look akin to bewilderment. He watched as Naruto gave his weak explanation to Hinata who smiled and patiently gave him the notes with no berating on her behalf.

He grinned slightly and got ready to swing down from the branch to go and meet both of them; his binder and notes forgotten on the ledge.

"You're the _best_, Hinata. Seriously. I love you, girl."

He paused and gripped the branch tighter as he heard the quick snippet of conversation float through the crowd. Slowly, he turned his gaze to where Naruto had his arms wrapped around her tightly in a hug and Hinata had buried her face into her shoulder.

Too late though.

He saw it.

He saw the blush that fell across her cheeks. He saw the way she bit her lip. He saw the shy look in her eye as his arms fell across her.

Cursing, he snapped off the branch he had been clutching and threw it to the ground angrily before jumping down swiftly to join it.

--

She hadn't seen him _all_ day.

It worried her because as much as people seemed to think so (or _want_ to think so), Sasuke was no badass and never skipped classes. He hadn't even been in Spanish to help her with the notes she had so desperately been in need of assistance for translating. She would've thought he was sick or something except for the fact she had found his binder and notes on the concrete ledge at the edge of the schoolyard at the end of lunch.

"Hey, um, Sakura, have you seen Sasuke at all?" Hinata asked quickly as she just about passed the pink haired girl in the hallway.

Sakura scrunched her nose before shaking her head. "Sorry."

Hinata's shoulders slumped dejectedly as she murmured, "Thanks." Before continuing down the hallway and out the school doors. Staring up at the blue sky that held very little wisps of clouds that afternoon, she sighed quietly. Her gaze drifted towards the top of the school that was shielding her vision from the sun before widening her eyes in realization.

--

He let his eyes drift between closed and barely opened slits as he lied against the warm rooftop of the school with the wind calmly brushing through his hair. At the moment, he was drifting between a state of consciousness and a dreamlike state; which was perfectly fine with him.

It was less painful than being fully aware.

"I thought I might find you here." A quiet voice murmured from behind him as they finished climbing the ladder that led to the top of the building.

Sasuke didn't even bother turning around to acknowledge the shy girl's presence as he opened his eyes and stared up at the clear blue sky above him. He knew who it was and he knew that she knew too.

"You always come up here when there's something to escape from." She sat down next to him and curled her knees up to her chest as she too tilted her head to the sky.

He continued to ignore her and laid his arms down behind his head as angry thoughts stormed across his mind. This was his place of comfort, of solace, and of sanctuary, and she had _no_ right to be here right now.

"You didn't come to Spanish." She whispered quietly into her knees just loud enough for him to hear. "And I didn't see you at all today. I was…worried."

He was angry at himself for the guilt curling up in the bottom of his stomach as he remembered the notes that he was supposed to give her. Letting a snarl cross his lips, he turned his head away from her direction, trying not to let the upset and hurt expression on Hinata's face make him feel in anyway bad.

"Why are you mad at me?" She finally asked, her voice even quieter than anything else she had said to him on the roof thus far.

Clenching his fists behind his head, he finally shot up and turned on her angrily, his eyes narrowed furiously. "Why?" He hissed and moved closer to the distraught girl who could not for the life of her tear her eyes away from his. "Why shouldn't I be? Why should I have to be put up with being second fiddle? Why should I give my hard worked notes to _you_ when you could go ask that blonde idiot? _Why do you still care for Naruto_?" He all but roared that last question, his face turning splotchy red, his hands clenched into tight fists, and his chest heaving with pants.

"Wh-what?" She breathed out unsteadily and leaned back, too afraid to come any closer to the angry boy.

"I _see_ the way you look at him still. I can see the way your face turns that undeniably infatuated blush when you get close to him. I can tell that your heart beats a thousand miles per minute and that you get breathless when he starts talking to you sometimes. I can tell that you still have feelings for him!" He looked down at the courtyard below them and gritted his teeth painfully. "But…I'm your boyfriend…and you don't even pretend to act around me like that."

Slowly, she faced in front of him and gently pulled one hand to place it right above her heart. "I don't blush around you because…I'm _comfortable_ around you. I don't have to blush around you because I'm not embarrassed and self-conscious when I'm with you." She pressed his large, warm hand closer to her skin and closed her eyes. "And can you feel my heartbeat now when I'm with _you_?"

Sasuke tried to hide the blush threatening to appear across his fair skinned cheeks due to how close his hand was to her breast before concentrating on her tiny heartbeat. It felt like a little bird panicking in its cage trying to find a way to escape its confinement. Looking up at her, he let his hand lift away from her chest before having it pressed against her warm cheek.

"And as for losing my breath…well…" She blushed as she continued. He could feel the heat radiate from her cheek into his hand and he could feel a small smile crack at the sides of his mouth. "I just try not to show it. Have you actually seen me breathless? It l-looks like I'm having an asthma attack…" She murmured and hid her face against his calloused hands.

Sasuke, it seemed, was slightly dumbstruck as mulled over her words. Turning his head away, he murmured, "But you still have feelings for Naruto nonetheless."

Letting his hand fall from her cheek, she took his face to cup it with her own tiny hands and brought it close to hers so she could stare into it unwaveringly. "Naruto…Naruto is my past. He was someone very dear to me, but…" She trailed off for a moment before beginning again, "You, however, are my present and future." She pressed her cheek against his and whispered, "Just as you can't replace all of Naruto, he can never, _ever_ replace y-you."

Entwining his fingers into her hair, he pulled her body close enough to mould against his body. "He better not." He murmured against her lips and clutched her tight against him.

As much as he relished her earlier excuse for her lack of blushing around him, he still felt a ridiculous amount of male pride at her flushed face after he kissed her; her own breathlessness make him want to stop breathing; and he found that his own heartbeat matched hers perfectly after.

Both of them gave almost smiles as they intertwined fingers, both aware of their blushing, panting, and frantic pulse.

"_You, however, are my present _

…_and future."_

He could deal with that.


	6. Break Away

"Your meeting has been rescheduled for lunch time, and Mr. Sabaku would like to know when that report will be sent in to him. His company's waiting list has a deadline, it seems." The short brunette placed a package of paperwork on the desk before her before rubbing her eyes wearily. "Naruto also wants to know if you and Sakura want to go for lunch at that Greek restaurant over by the hotel. I told him that Wednesday would probably be best."

The young assistant took the low grunt from the lowered head as a, "Gee, thanks so much Hinata. I'm really grateful that you're such a dedicated and hardworking assistant. I think I'll give you a raise!"

Well, perhaps not the last part.

But the meaning was still there.

Just as Hinata turned to leave, a firm hand reached across the desk to grasp her wrist. Startled to say the least, she turned around and asked quietly, "Yes, Mr. Uchiha?"

The young Uchiha president flickered his dark gaze up to her almost hesitantly before tugging her around the desk so she was standing over his sitting form (a mighty, _mighty _impressive form, even sitting down…Hinata quickly squashed that thought. This was her boss. Her _married _boss. Her married to the beautiful, strong, intelligent, former model, _Sakura Haruno _boss.) and tugged her slightly so her ear was a breath away from his ever so soft looking lips.

"Come have coffee with me…during lunch today."

"Wh-what?" She breathed and jerked back to stare at him, waiting for some sort of offhanded joke at her expense, or a chortle of laughter that she believed him, but found nothing. He looked absolutely sincere. Straightening up properly and staring out the vast window next to her, she tried willing the stain of red on her cheeks to _just disappear. _"I don't think…I don't think that would be…appropriate."

Raising his eyebrow, Sasuke perked the corner of his lip up ever so slightly that if Hinata did not see him every single day and tended to his everyday work needs, she would have just recognised it as an annoyed tick instead of the amused smile it was. "Hinata, I need to discuss the advertisers' demands with someone…I was going to ask Shikamaru to come with me, but I figured that after all this time working here and wanting to become a magazine owner yourself, it should be about time to get you introduced to the ropes of things."

"O-oh," Hinata stuttered and turned a flaming red shade. Dear God, there she goes assuming and making an ass out of herself…Of course Sasuke wouldn't be remotely interested her other than he was a kinder boss than most and wanted to help her get a grasp on the way of how things went in the company. "I…uh…I'd l-like that." She covered her face with her hands for a moment before straightening up and biting her lip. "I'm going to, um, go now."

"I'll see you at lunch, then." A smirk was placed upon his chiselled face as he returned to the mountains of paperwork placed on his desk.

After she closed the door behind her, Hinata leaned back against it and placed a hand over her wildly thumping heart. This was not good at all…

--

"Atlantic Airwaves wants two full spreads in the upcoming issue, but I'm not sure if--" Sasuke stopped full in his tracks and stared right in front of him as they began walking into the café. Hinata collided with him before recovering and peering around his massive form to see what had her boss so worked up.

Oh.

In the back corner under a dim light sat Naruto and Sakura laughing together quietly. Hinata had to admit to herself that the two made an attractive couple, even if it was just a friendly coffee date they were on. Feeling her boss's muscles tense beneath the arm she was clutching onto from behind to have better leverage to peer around at, Hinata tugged him back a step and murmured, "You know what? This place isn't all that great…there's this place I went with Kiba two weeks ago just around the block…"

"No." Sasuke growled and shook her hand off of him to storm over silently. Oh, boy…

The two bright haired friends looked up, startled, as Sasuke stood towering over their table as his meek assistant hovered behind him nervously biting her lip. Hinata watched for a moment as panic and shock flickered across Sakura's face before sinking comfortably to mimic Naruto's cheery and friendly one. "Sasuke! What're you doing here?" Naruto grinned and took a sip of his coffee.

"I could ask the same thing." Sasuke hissed and glared down at them, his hands slowly curling into fists.

"We were discussing the plans to your guys' anniversary that's in a couple of weeks." Naruto blinked in surprise. "Did it…did it look like something else?" He asked innocently and looked back and forth between the uneasy stare Sakura was giving Sasuke and the glare he was giving her. "You wanna join us and we can talk about other things instead?"

"You…" He looked down at Sakura's face which up to this point had been fairly stone like and betrayed little of her emotions, now wavered in a state of guilt.

"No." Hinata quickly chimed in and took a light grip of her boss's arm and back peddled slightly. "We…we should go now. My lunch break's almost up and Sasuke has a meeting soon with his brother."

With a happy wave, Naruto grinned and said, "Okay, I'll see you guys later!"

--

Back in Sasuke's office, Hinata suddenly regretted volunteering them to leave and be stuck with him in such a confined space.

"She's cheating on me!" Sasuke growled and picked up a ceramic paperclip holder before hurling it at the wall where it crashed into an explosion of splinters with a violent noise. Flinching, Hinata stood stalk still and waited for him to complete his rant, knowing that only terrible, terrible things would occur if she left before it was over. "With my best friend!" He snorted and glared down at his hands that were leaning his weight against the desk. "Best friend, my fucking ass."

"Maybe y-you're taking this too seriously…they were talking about _your _anniversary. I'm sure that it was all strictly…platonic." Hinata assured none too confidently.

With no warning, Sasuke sunk into his chair, cradled his head in his hand and looked up at Hinata with dull eyes. "I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this. This is Sakura we're talking about." He scoffed and ran a long fingered hand through his hair. "Sakura, always playing the field, Sakura who had Naruto there willing at her heels any time of day…" At Hinata concerned face he shook his head and scowled. "Our romance ran out of our marriage a long time ago. I suppose I'm just mad she had the gall to be unfaithful instead of just outright asking for a divorce." He growled to himself, "Fucking gold digger."

Hinata walked the small distance between her and her boss before kneeling in front of him and lightly gathering his large hands in her small and slender ones. "You guys should talk about this…together." She watched as he turned his head to look out the expanse of the large window and felt her heart thrum fast enough she thought it was vibrating as he absentmindedly stroked her hands clutching his with a strong thumb.

"We were nineteen when we married." He muttered and furrowed his aristocratic eyebrows together before looking down at her kneeling form. With a firm jerk, he pulled her up to her feet and continued to play with her hands as she stood over him.

"I know." Hinata whispered. She had been there at the wedding. It had been beautiful and it had broke her heart as she watched the two exchange their wedding vows and it would've killed her if she had stayed the entire reception watching them in their wedded bliss, sharing kisses, cake, and dances. Instead, she had stolen a bottle of wine from the bar, drove home right away, proceeded to get drunk out of her mind, and then cry herself to sleep.

"I don't know what I was thinking when I asked her to marry me." Sasuke grunted and ran his fingers up and down her wrists, leaving goosebumps in their trails. "We were both too young, she was always entirely too interested in my money, and I'd barely even started _university_."

With all the courage she had, Hinata reached down and pushed back the hair brushing against Sasuke's eyebrows gently. He needed a haircut, it had been a month or two since Hinata last remembered having to schedule one. To her surprise, he leaned into her touch and tugged her closer to him. Taking a deep and unsteady breath, Hinata whispered, "I don't know wh-what to tell you other than…work it out with Sakura. And although I'm very much against anyone breaking wh-what are supposed to be eternal vows…I d-don't want you to be unhappy, Sasuke."

"I know. You're always getting into my business when I don't want, meddling in affairs that you needn't be in, and poking your nose in where it's not needed." Hinata shrunk into herself at this and attempted to back off, only to be held tighter by his hands and pulled closer. "…But you care. You look out for me when I don't want someone to."

With a small smile, Hinata gripped his hand back and felt a rush of warmth at his tilt of lips that was for a rare occasion, not a smirk.

--

"Sasuke?" Hinata asked horrified as she pushed her way past a large and stumbling drunk man who had been in the process of trying to get a hold of the number of the blonde sitting next to him at the bar. With little success.

"Hinata!" Sasuke greeted with slurred words and threw an arm around her neck to pull her in. "Have a drink. Bartender!" He barked and glared at the man. "Bartender, get her…get her something to drink…like…something with…with vodka…"

"Miss, would you be Hinata?" The bartender ignored Sasuke who had turned his attentions back to his own drink in hand.

"Yes," Hinata answered breathlessly as Sasuke pulled her into his lap and patted her arm almost in a manner a parent would do to an upset child. "That's me."

The bartender handed her a familiar slim Blackberry and frowned. "This guy's had way too much to drink. Anymore and I think he'll start trashing my bar. You were the most called contact on his list. Do me a favor and take him out of here, okay?"

"Yes, of course." Hinata quickly agreed and placed the phone into her pocket before pulling Sasuke to his feet by the arm still slung around her shoulder. "Come on, Sasuke. I think…I think we should go now."

"Hinata…" He muttered and staggered next to her. "Hinata…I think I did good. I got myself really…really drunk."

"Sasuke," Hinata grunted in exasperation as she staggered under his weight and wrestled the two of them out of the crowded doorway. "Please don't tell me you meant to end up like this."

"Don't worry, Hinata. I won't--I won't tell you." He patted her cheek reassuringly and attempted straightening himself up as they crammed through the doorway.

Hinata groaned and gave him a good smack in the ribs as he admitted this. "Sasuke, you--you can't do this to yourself!" With a sigh she smoothed back the hair that was falling haphazardly into his eyes and said, "We're going to sit down and you're g-going to talk to me, okay?"

"Mm, okay, Hinata." He slurred and leaned against the hand still hesitating on his forehead. "Let's…let's talk. I'll talk with you, and you alone."

She finally managed to drag him over to an empty bench facing an equally empty park to which Hinata noticed in vague horror was the exact location in which Sasuke had proposed to Sakura. Quickly, she dropped him onto the bench and stood facing him and hoped that he wouldn't be able to piece two and two together. "N-now. I need you to start t-talking, Sasuke."

"Hinataaaa…" He moaned and pulled her onto his lap much like he had in the bar. "Why are you so good…so good to me? I mean…you were always--no, you were _never _a stupid fan girl and you treated me the same as everyone else." His eyes widened in dawning realization before grasping her shoulders and asking in an incredulous voice, "Why didn't I…didn't I _marry _you? My _god_, life would've been so much sweeter…"

"Sasuke!" Hinata shrieked and hid her red face behind her hands as she forced herself to remind the loud voice screaming for joy and parading around in her mind to _shut up _because Sasuke was shittered beyond all comprehensible belief and probably would never remember this in the morning.. "Stop. You promised you would explain to me what happened." She attempted half heartedly to stand up off his lap before his arm tightened considerably and pulled her into an intimate position on his lap.

"You smell…real good…" He murmured into her shoulder. "That's one thing I could--could appreciate about having you as an assistant. Your very, very good hygiene."

"Sasuke," Hinata could feel herself deflate in his grasp. It was starting out to be a very long night. "As flattering a-as this is, I'm just going to point out that y-you're drunk and I'm still waiting for an answer."

There was silence as he continued to breathe into her shoulder where his face was pressed against before he began mumbling, "She broke up with me." He breathed a vicious profanity before squeezing his eyes shut. "I went to her office today…to end it…break off…break away…and there she was…with _Naruto_. With fucking Naruto." He laughed and snorted before correcting himself. "I mean she was there _fucking _Naruto."

"Oh, Sasuke," Hinata murmured and ran her fingers through his hair. "I think it's time to go home. I-I'll take you." She was almost ready to leave before Sasuke gripped her hands and drew them to him as he hid his face in them, reminding her so much of a lost little boy.

"Haha, I managed...I managed to break away from her...finally..." He slurred into her hands and peered up at her. Hinata supposed she looked decently upset because he smiled goofily and murmured, "…thanks. I know I'm only saying this because I'm drunk, but thank you, Hinata. For always being here."

And she knew, right then and there she always would be. She'd always be there to pick up the pieces and help deflect the pain when he needed it.

Because she was Hinata. Good old, dependable, and very hygienic Hinata.

* * *

**UM. This was NOT supposed to have angsty feelings on Hinata's part originally. But whatever, I liked how it ended up, having always gone for the happy endings myself. You can come to your own conclusion on how this ends. I figured there was enough SasuHina fluff in there anyways.**


	7. Last Hope

"Get away from the window!"

With a jerk the young girl was pulled back, away from the broken window and hurled desperately onto the floor. Grunting, both girls smacked their heads together with a painful clunk that elicited a loud groan from each one. Being the first one to recover, the scrawniest of the two squirmed out from beneath the other's loosened grip and hissed, "Jesus, Hinata! I know what I'm doing, okay? They can't get us from up here on the fifth story, alright?"

The elder of the two sighed before rubbing her eyes and curling up onto her knees to rest her elbows on them in order to cradle her weary head. "I…I know. I'm sorry, I'm just tired, Hanabi."

Exhausted or even shattered would probably been better words to describe how she was feeling. For three weeks straight, the two had been running, running, running, _running_. She wasn't even sure how she was still managing, even on the minimum food they managed to take from the abandoned grocery stores, gas stations, and corner stores along their way, it was still few and far between. She glanced up at her sister who was in the process of sharpening the end of her hatchet slowly and with great care.

Her tiny frame caged itself around her weapon as she sat on her haunches, slowly scraping metal against metal. She looked as if to shield it, or even perhaps cradle it. Fingers momentarily reached up to touch foreign hair that used to be long, smooth and chestnut, but now grew in choppy strands around her gaunt face, and it made Hinata want to cry. Cry for her sister's lost innocence, lost at the age of fourteen, forced to be on the run constantly out of necessity of survival. However, tears, as Hanabi always snapped at her, had no place in a hard world where if you were weak or too emotional, _you would die_.

"Go to sleep then," Hanabi mumbled as she sat down properly in a cross legged manner. "I'll take first watch." She didn't wait for an answer as she turned her back to the open door way, resting her hatchet lazily against her shoulder.

"Thank you," Hinata whispered and made her way over to hesitantly curl up against her sister's side on cold, concrete floor and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Get up! Get up, Hinata!" Shrieking and jostling woke Hinata into instant consciousness as she instinctively grabbed her crowbar she always kept near and leapt up. Already Hanabi was pulling her desperately towards the window and small ledge outside of it.

"How did they get in?" Hinata gasped as Hanabi lithely crawled out of the window, careful not to cut herself on the broken glass and up the barely hinged fire escape with the hatchet between her teeth. There was a telltale groan and fumblings heard from behind as she quickly followed her sister up, not daring to look down. "I thought we destroyed or blocked off all staircases!"

"Yeah, well," Hanabi swung herself over and onto the flat rooftop. "Evidently not." She glanced over rooftops and pointed. "I can see the coast from here. We should be there by the end of today."

Scrambling up behind, Hinata looked in the direction Hanabi had been pointed and could also see the faint glimmering of water, only highlighted by the bright moon dangling far above. She took a moment to stare out at the horizon placed beneath her. Empty, empty, empty, empty. There were no cars, no busy street noises, not even a flickering of lights from the city, just what little light the moon managed to provide.

"Hinata!" Hanabi shrieked and pushed her off to the side as she took the end of her hatchet and smashed the blunt edge against the disfigured face and hand clawing after where Hinata's ankle had been moments before. Readjusting her grip seamlessly, Hanabi swung the weapon clean into the skull with a sickening crunch and watched as the body wavered for a moment on the ladder before falling down to earth eight stories below.

"You okay?" Hanabi murmured and looked over at her sister who was leaning back on skinned elbows, staring up at her sister, angel of death and vengeance itself.

"I…am."

* * *

The first time Hinata had ever heard of the Infected was four years ago. If she recalled correctly, it had been at one of her father's parties. One of those parties women attended to elevate social statuses and old men came to gloat.

"Oh, yes, have you heard what the English have done?"

"Nasty business, those Infected."

"It's spread across to France."

"That's one of the things you get, dabbling with witchcraft and death. Leave it be, I say. Now look what they've gotten themselves into, a country filled with mindless eating machines. It's horrific."

At the time, Hinata had given it no interest or even much cared. Why bother with the affairs of somewhere a continent away when she already had her hands full with trying to maintain grades, do everything in her shy nature to catch the attention of her crush, sleep, and have some semblance of a social life?

It was two years later when the epidemic finally hit Japan.

They had been relatively lucky at first, being quarantined on an island and it had taken longer than normal for the spread to finally reach them, but once it had; there was no escape. She remembered that summer. She remembered being quarantined in her suffocating and hot mansion with her family, having thrown all the servants out to the streets to fend for themselves. Her father had got stir crazy and destroyed any furniture he could find at the mention of "Infected" or god forbid…"zombies."

It was he that was the first to turn. They had swarmed. Limbs breaking through glass by sheer force of numbers and They _just did not stop_. He had tried to make an escape for them all, and eventually, both Hinata and her sister as well as their cousin had escaped through the forest behind their property, though not before her father had been enveloped by the crowd of monsters.

Five weeks later marked the day Neji had been bitten.

Neji had known and told them. All of them knew his fate. He had begged for them to kill him, knowing that if they didn't, he _would _end up killing them. By the end, it was too late and once he attacked Hanabi, Hinata drove her crowbar into his eye, feeling the crunch of metal hitting the back of his skull from the impact and snatched Hanabi, running as far away from there as possible.

She had cried for weeks.

Occasionally, they would run into other few survivors, but they never strayed too long together in one place. Too many people attracted Them. Perhaps it was the sounds, or the smell, or even the actual occasional sounds of happiness, but They were always came.

At least, until she heard the rumours.

Rumours of the far off eastern coastal prison. It was infamous, what being the largest and most secluded prison in Japan, impenetrable walls and trapped upon an island a mile off of the coast. Oh, it had plenty of attacks placed upon it, and because of it, transport of live people to and from the island proved difficult, but never once had in been breached.

It wasn't much to go on. It was mentioned in passing between other survivors they had met. Not truly believed in…yet it represented some sort of hope. The last hope Hinata had for herself and her sister.

* * *

"Hanabi! Hurry!" Hinata stopped for a moment as she watched her sister stumble across roots and push branches futilely out of her way. She could see it. She could see it's tall protective walls peering up over the tops of the trees teasing her. It was _there _though, and that alone was almost enough.

Finding a boat to the island had been difficult. Finding _fuel _for the boat had been even more so. Fortunately, the two managed to set off before night fell and watched as the sun set dangerously low just as they landed. Neither wanted to chance sleep outside unprotected on an island probably large enough to play host to several colonies of Infected, so decided on the even higher risk of trudging through forest at night, praying that any they came in contact would be few and far between.

Luck had been on their side thus far; not once had an Infected approached them or even seemed to sense them. It unsettled Hinata, but she knew to count her blessings at the same time, even as mosquitoes were nipping relentlessly and branches tore through them as they trekked through a dark forest. Every snap of twig or fall of shadow sent their senses into a heightened sense of frenzied action knowing that every corner could reveal an Infected lurking, starving, and unyielding.

"I can see a road!" Hanabi hissed and pointed. It was cracked and bumpy, clearly not cared for in years for obvious reasons. Though, it hinted to the chance of some form of civilization that sent the two girls skirting over roots and brambles onto the pavement. Out of the corner of her eye, Hinata watched as her sister stumbled onto the road, her knee buckling slightly before setting it back with clear resolve as she jogged down the road ahead of Hinata.

"We…we can slow down a bit." Hinata murmured, "The sun's almost rising, and its almost there." She referred to the walls standing tall perhaps near a kilometre a way.

"Almost there doesn't cut it." Hanabi snarled and stopped for a moment to turn and glare at her sister. "Goddamn it, Hinata, I know you're trying to do this for me. I'm _fine_. I'm alive, which is more than enough, but if we don't fucking keep going, I don't know how long that's going to last for."

"Hanabi-"

"Listen! We cannot stop. We cannot stop _because _it's almost there. Do you want to-" Both froze as clear sounds of branches snapped and ruffled. Muffled thumps echoed through the forest making the sounds of limbs dragging through the bumpy forest ground. Slowly, Hinata tightened her grip on her crowbar and watched as her sister did the same with her hatchet, knuckles bleeding white. Fear constricted chokingly around her heart as her legs suddenly jittered with blood flow, ready run at any given moment.

It didn't take too long for them to emerge from the forest, monsters Hinata had come to be known as faceless in their devoid of emotion as a torn limb hung on by sheer strands of muscle, or a gash continued to bleed them dry, or an organ hung limply out of an open wound. Hissing in a sharp intake of breath, Hinata's eyes widened in horror as she watched a swarm crawl and stumble onto the street. They were surrounded. It suddenly dawned on her that they had grouped and waited to strike this whole time, as if it all been…planned.

Her sister's fierce shout as she cleaved a hole into the skull of an approaching Infected shocked Hinata back into the present. Narrowing her eyes, she shifted her crowbar within her hands and deftly swung it with a resounding crack into the soft material of brain matter as it shattered messily through the skull. Another one filled the space of it's previous fallen and groaned hungrily as it came closer. With a disgusted grimace, she twirled the bar in her hand and brought the pointed end of it straight into the eye socket with a satisfying squelch. A sudden claustrophobic panic flittered through her as they began crowding around in numbers she didn't think were possible. The gnashing of teeth, the groans, and the entanglement of limbs reminded her all too much of the last night she saw her father and was unable to keep from squeezing her eyes shut momentarily to suppress the memory.

Hanabi's strangled shriek was what threw Hinata yet again back into reality as she watched her sister get tossed back by a grotesque hand grasping desperately for her. Suddenly, Hinata could care less about memories long past, because right now her sister was on the ground and she was _entirely vulnerable_. With an enraged shriek she threw herself forward and with a quick slashing moment drove her weapon straight across its face, causing it to stumble slightly before attempting to attack yet again. Growling, Hinata swung in desperation and frustration, only to have the point of a sword come face to face with her as it protruded out of her enemy's skull.

A loud shot filled the air followed quickly by a victorious yowl. Breathing heavily and looking around in a prey-like mixture of confusion of panic, Hinata watched as another head went flying from its severed body. The blade-katana, she corrected herself (father would've been horrified otherwise)-was swift and she felt it was strangely ironic to have an action so gruesome seem more graceful than any dance she had been privy to have seen in her life.

Another shot. Blinking, she grasped her sister's arm and tugged up, pulling Hanabi to her feet into a brief hug in which she murmured, "You still have your hatchet?"

"Yeah," She pushed away quickly to swing said weapon into the oncoming head of a persistent Infected. Blood splattered across the two, neither of them noticing as they watched Katana Man continue to weave his way in and out of the swarm seamlessly. A nearby blond was taking pleasure in firing shots with a shotgun of sorts at the skulls of their opponents with deadly accuracy as he taunted the other man with numbers. "Who are these guys?"

"I-I'm not sure." Hinata answered and found herself staring at a nearly decimated battle field. In fact, with a loud squelching noise, Katana Man sliced through the very last one and smirked as it fell with a satisfying groan.

"Whoo!" The blond grinned and shouted. "Thirty-nine! Beat that!"

"Forty-two." The darker man murmured with a smirk as he began wiping his blade against the grass. "I win. Again."

"What? No way, I totally got more kills than-"

"Who are you?" Hanabi snapped at the two and pointed her hatchet threateningly at them. Hinata sighed and looked away in embarrassment…every time they met a survivor this happened. Although Hanabi's suspicious nature more often than not saved them in many different situations, it made for having comfortable conversation with others more than a little difficult.

The blond blinked as if just noticing the sisters. "Oh. This would explain the sudden outbreak of Them in this area…" He trotted over with a grin that made Hinata breathless plastered across his chiselled and blood splattered face. "My name's Naruto." He took Hinata's hand into his and pumped it vigorously. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Hinata," She greeted back with a wary smile before turning his gaze back to Katana Man who was glaring at the two with a thoughtful frown. He looked very familiar.

Naruto seemed to notice this and grinned. "This is Sasuke. He's a bit of a grump, but really, don't let that get you down. He's just a bit of a social retard is all."

"Luckily that doesn't apply to my entire brain, unlike you, Naru-tard." He called over loftily as he sheathed his sword. His hair though short grew unruly against his forehead where it was currently plastered with sweat. Hinata was appalled to discover herself thinking about how fine of a specimen these two men were. Was it _that _long since she had been in the company of a male? She blushed a horrid red and quickly jerked her hand out of Naruto's and glanced away from the two.

"Hey! Fuck you, Sasuke!" The blond pouted and rested his shotgun against his shoulder. "I have a better shot than you ever could, asshole."

"Wait. Sasuke…Sasuke Uchiha? I knew you looked familiar!" Hanabi growled and put a two hand grip onto her hatchet as she warily stepped away from Naruto. "You…you went to rot in jail for treason and attempted assassination of our president."

"Aw, how cute." He sneered back and took a step towards the two. "Someone watched the news five years ago. Hm. I didn't think six year olds cared for that sort of thing."

"I'm sixteen now, you fucker." Hanabi hissed dangerously and swung her weapon threateningly.

"Hey…um, c'mon now," Naruto murmured uneasily and put his hands in front of himself in a calming gesture. "That was a long time ago back when those things actually mattered…we're all on the same side here."

"That was my father you tried to kill!" Hanabi shrieked and swung her hatchet, narrowly missing Sasuke's head as he casually ducked it. "You. Have. No. Idea. What we went through!" She panted through gritted teeth.

"Hanabi," Hinata murmured into her sister's ear and placed herself in front of her field of view. "This…this isn't the time. Survival first, remember? You can't show that…that any part of you is weak." Lightly, she placed her hand on her sister's that was still wielding her weapon and waited for Hanabi's breathing to return to normal.

"Learn to keep your dog muzzled." The dark one snarled and crossed his arms before making his way over to the blond who shrugged helplessly.

"Do not speak to my sister that way." Hinata looked over at Sasuke, her voice soft. She remembered him now. Granted, he had been cleaner and leaner then and his hair longer, but he was still the same. Olive complexion, dark stormy eyes, untameable dark hair and arrogant stride as he walked into the court room. She couldn't look anymore; it brought back too many memories of days yesterday past. She turned to Naruto who had given Sasuke an accusing punch in the shoulder and asked, "A-are you from the prison?"

"Yes we are!" He grinned and wrapped a friendly arm around her. "Out making our nightly patrols…and I must say, Miss, I am very impressed with your skills with a crowbar. I can honestly say I have never seen one used in such a way. Care to join us on our way back?"

"Yes, thank you, so much." Hinata deflated in relief against him, her knees wobbling as he let go of her. She fell to the side, bracing herself for hard ground only to fall against a warm chest and open arms. She gasped indignantly as a hand groped at her waist, running itself up against her side slowly. Before she had a chance to twist away, a low and familiar voice murmured, "When was the last time you ate? I can feel your ribs sticking out."

"I…" Yesterday? Two days ago? Three? She honestly couldn't remember. All the days meshed into one. "I…I don't know…" She admitted in a whisper.

"Let go of her!" Hanabi shrieked and launched forwards, only to be caught roughly around the waist by a soothing Naruto.

"Hey. It's okay. Sasuke's not like that…"

"I don't care!" Hanabi shrieked and pointed at Sasuke accusingly. "I don't trust you, I don't trust you one fucking bit!" Desperately, she lashed out in Naruto's grip with the hatchet dangerously swinging and nearly slicing off one of Naruto's fingers and ears in the process.

"That makes two of us then…" Hinata heard Sasuke mutter quietly as he rolled his eyes heavenwards. Perhaps it was the bizarreness of the entire situation, but Hinata felt it was appropriate to notice just how long his eyelashes were as the swept over his high cheekbones.

"Do you know when she last ate?" Naruto asked quickly and flexed his fingers threateningly against Hanabi's side as she squirmed some more in his grip.

"No." Hanabi growled. "Sorta. Two days ago? It's been a while…" Her face lowered as she quit fighting against the iron band that was Naruto's arm before mumbling, "Maybe more…she gave me her share of that granola bar…"

"Okay. Come on then," Naruto hoisted a shrieking and indignant Hanabi up into his arms. "Time to conserve energy. HQ's about a kilometre and a half away and we have to walk it on foot." He sighed as she continued to beat against his chest relentlessly. "Listen, I can carry you three different ways. Option one: Like this. Option two: piggy back. Option three: hoist you over my shoulders not unlike a sack of potatoes."

Both sisters could hear the threat in his voice, causing Hanabi to pause before crossing her arms sulkily across her small chest and mutter, "Piggyback."

"Good." Naruto said cheerfully and set her down and bent over to let her crawl onto him. He adjusted her quickly before straightening up. "Alright. Anyone know any good songs?" He laughed as Hanabi groaned and beat small fists against his shoulders again.

With a small exhale that could've been a sigh, Sasuke leaned forwards and gathered Hinata into his arms, one arm tucked under her legs and the other securely behind her back. Blinking, Hinata looked up and asked softly, "…Do I get the same choice too?"

"No." He didn't even look as her as he answered firmly and followed behind Naruto. "You'll be too much of a hassle to throw over my shoulder and I don't need you kicking me if I piggyback you."

Hinata echoed his sigh before leaning against him and letting the sounds of Naruto and Hanabi argue wash over her.

* * *

"We're hooooooome!" Naruto cried out jubilantly and let go of Hanabi's legs to wave enthusiastically at a largely gated wall, leaving Hanabi scrambling desperately against his back to avoid slipping and falling. "Don't shoot this time, okay, jackasses?"

Laughter filtered from the top of the thick wall making Naruto frown and pout. "It wasn't funny, okay! Just fucking open up!" He banged against the steel door before him.

"Calm your shit, Naruto." An obnoxious voice drawled out as it flung open revealing a wild looking man with messy brown hair and what looked to be tattooed marks beneath his feral eyes. "It was once. And yeah, it _was _fucking hilarious to see you piss yourself like that."

"Fuck you, Kiba. Fuck your dog too." Naruto sniffed primly as he readjusted Hanabi against his back. "We have company. Wouldn't want to shoot these nice young girls, would you?"

At this Hanabi cuffed the side of his ear and barked, "I hate you! You groped me the whole way here, pervert! I _hope _they end up shooting you!"

Kiba barked loudly in laughter and doubled over as he managed to hiss out between guffaws, "I like this one! Where'd you find her?"

"On the road about a kilometre from here." Sasuke answered as he stepped forwards, Hinata still in his arms as she watched the man curiously. He seemed to finally notice her before blinking and letting a sly grin spread across his face as he stood up to walk closer.

"Hm," He leaned forwards towards Hinata and pressed his nose against her hair to sniff. She jerked away in alarm and glanced up at Sasuke who glared at the other man in annoyance. "You caught yourself a pretty one. The name's Kiba, milady." He bent over in a low, sweeping bow, "Enchanté."

"Ew. Get away from my sister, perv!" Hanabi chucked her shoe at Kiba and scowled angrily. "Jesus. Do I have to defend your honour every time we come across anything that has something even _remotely _resembling a penis?"

Another laugh on behalf of Kiba. "Speaking of penises, Sai's gonna be the one who does the check up on you two when you pass through."

Both men flinched at this. "Why do we even let him have that job?" Naruto whined and looked skywards in prayer. "There is such thing as a job _too _thoroughly done."

Smirking, Kiba shrugged before motioning for the four of them to follow them into a dimly lit entrance way. "Hey, he does a good job of it." He glanced at the two girls who blinked and looked around at the bare room. "You two are lucky enough that you aren't gonna be checked up by that creepy little shit." There were two doors before them. He pointed to the far left and said, "Ladies go through that one."

Without hesitation, Naruto dropped Hanabi ungracefully and stretched. "Whatever. Time to get this over with. C'mon, Sasuke."

With considerably more care, Sasuke let go of Hinata and let her stumble over to Hanabi who was growling death threats beneath her breath and nodded. Whispering, she held onto Hanabi's arm and tugged lightly towards the door. "Let's go, Hanabi. We made it."

* * *

After a gruelling and altogether embarrassingly thorough exam of their bodies, the two were let into the main hallways of the prison. She was surprised to find how…at _home _she felt. Though perhaps living in abandoned houses while on the run for the past two years left one with a biased opinion.

The main cafeteria was filled with people as they ate, talked amongst each other, or seemed merely to enjoy basking in the company of something _living_. A hand shot up amidst the crowd, waving vigorously to the girls as they entered. "Hinata! Hanabi! Come and sit with us!"

A soft smile lit her face as she nudged her reluctant sister to an overly jubilant Naruto who was in the process of stuffing ramen down his throat. "Do we _have _toooooo?" Hanabi whined and dug her feet into the ground. "I just spent the last hour having some chick grope me, I don't want to spend the next one having _him _grope me again."

"I'll defend your honour this time." Hinata chuckled softly and gave a shy smile and wave back to Naruto whose face lit up into a bright grin. Hanabi scoffed at this but sat herself down with a surly frown on her thin face next to Naruto who laughed in delight and wrapped a friendly arm around her, pulling her close.

"Have you guys eaten yet?" Naruto asked and taunted the younger Hyuuga with a noodle dangling precariously in front of her face. Hanabi responded with a disgusted scowl as she smacked his hand away and hissed, "I've lost my appetite, thanks."

"Aw, c'mon. You haven't eaten in days! You need to eat some ramen, who _doesn't _love ramen?" Naruto insisted and ended Hanabi's firm and annoyed denials by shoving a chopstick full of the noodles into her mouth. Enraged, Hanabi spat out the noodles with a screech and threatened to dump his bowl atop his messy blond head.

"Let's go." Hinata blinked as she noticed Sasuke stand up next to her, rolling his eyes. She hadn't seen him in any sort of light before then, and she found it for some reason surprising how sharp his features were; high, sharp cheekbones, thin lips, slanted mouth, jagged scars that ran across his arms and chest.

"Wh-what?" She asked in a confused murmur, hoping her ogling didn't continue for as long as she thought it did. "I…go where?"

"To find you something to eat before Naruto forces ramen on you too." He walked away without another word, though if the steady pace of his stride was anything to go on, he expected her to follow along too. Obediently, she did so and was led to a buffet of sorts where she was surprised to find fresh vegetables, pasta, and fish all carefully laid out before them. In response to her surprised flicker of emotion, he said, "We grow everything here. Nothing's been contaminated by the virus."

"Impressive," She murmured as she piled as much of everything as she could onto her place. She blinked and pursed her lips in confusion when Sasuke's hand gripped her elbow and shook his head as she tried walking back to the table where Kiba had now joined in on the harassment of her sister.

"There's…a better spot with a view." He dropped her elbow and made his way through the cantina area and down a corridor, Hinata trotting along closely behind, determined not to get lost in the maze of cells, some turned into used living spaces with real wooden doors replaced with cell bars, that curled and turned unexpectedly. Before long they reached a long, twisting staircase with no rail as it curled up in a spiral to the top of what looked like almost a turret. She followed Sasuke uncertainly up the stairs, her hands shaking precariously out of fear as each step creating a small cry of unsteady metal and partially to retain balance on all of her food.

The stairs, it turned out, did not lead up a turret, but to the roof of the enormous jail. Sasuke hadn't been lying when he said it had a view. Beyond the forest laid the ocean stretched out and sparkling happily against the orange hue of sunrise, slowly making its way up beyond the city at the shore, striking windows of skyscrapers and buildings alike and glowing harsh against her eyes. Robotically, she made her way to the ledge and sat, feet dangling carelessly over the edge as placed her plate carefully in her lap before inspecting an apple to take a delicate bite.

"Thank you," She looked up at Sasuke who stood tall next to her and stared out the horizon, sun glinting off of his cheeks, highlighting every bone structure and crease on his face. He was her age, she was surprised to remember, supposedly a super genius only next to Neji in terms of intelligence and cold hearted calculations…yet, for twenty two years of age, he looked like a man much older. His eyes as the slid to her were not of a young man, though she supposed in this world no one could afford the luxury of being young anymore.

"You're welcome." He dipped his head lightly in acknowledgment before turning back to the brightening horizon.

It struck her slightly as odd to have him be so accommodating and…kind to her. She recalled his angry glares during the trials, the cold glares as the judge proceeded to question him, and the indifferent manner in which he treated Naruto. It didn't sit right. Unsettled, Hinata asked quietly after thoughtfully chewing another section of her apple, "Why are you being so n-nice to me?"

There was no answer at first. Finally, he sat down gracefully next to her, mimicking her position as he leaned forwards and clasped his hands together as his elbows rested on his thighs and his hands dangled between his legs. "Guilt…perhaps?" He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a little unfamiliar with the feeling myself. I think it might be because you remind me of life before all of…this." He gestured vaguely to the empty city across the water. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I knew who you were the first second I saw you."

A little uncomfortable and unable to respond similarly, Hinata merely finished off her apple and set her core to the side before working on the pasta and regretting not bringing a fork, though too hungry to care as she clumsily plucked the noodles from her plate to her mouth. He seemed to understand this before looking back to the ocean. "…You know I had nothing against your father or your family." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

"I worked doing political fuck ups and assassinations for money, and I was offered a lot of money to get rid of your father." He closed his eyes and Hinata watched in fascination as wind rustled through his very shortened hair, ruffling the soft texture into a messy array. "…I've never seen a target's family after the hit until now. I don't know how I feel about it."

"Stop, please." Hinata found herself saying abruptly as she placed her plate down next to her. "You…you aren't sorry. I know. Somehow…I can't find myself caring. My father is dead either way and I don't want to remember anymore. Remembering hurts too much knowing everything that's been lost…and it makes me angry." She looked at him. "I'm not about to forget, but I don't want to dwell. I promise not to hate you if you promise not to be the person you were."

"I won't make any promises. I am who I am." Sasuke snorted softly before standing and offering a hand to her, one which she declined and stood on her own.

"Then I won't either." Firm years of etiquette pounded into her after being a high ranking politician's daughter required her to make a quick change in subject as conversation began to draw sour. "I appreciate y-you bringing me here." She stuck out her clean hand to be shaken as she demurely said, "I would like to start over. Being humanity's last hope requires a bit of cooperation, I would think. My name is Hyuuga Hinata."

He took it uncertainly with an amused smile forming slightly at the corner of his mouth as he shook it firmly and replied, "Sasuke Uchiha. Though I doubt we are the last in the world, perhaps Japan's last hope. We humans are a fairly hardy race."

She smiled lightly. "Japan's last hope…I like that, I think."

That amused smile was soon to be one that would grow on her, she was sure.


End file.
